The Ranch

“Oh, poor baby… I'm so sorry… I wish I had been there for you.” She looked up at him then and smiled through her tears, wondering how she had suddenly been so lucky. Maybe God thought she had paid enough for once, or maybe it was just blind luck, or maybe she was dreaming.

“He looks so much like my son,” she tried to explain it to him, but she didn't have to. The woman with the enormous belly looked so much like Mary Stuart, she could have been her younger sister, it was easy to see the resemblance.

“What a terrible time you've had,” he said as the others left them alone, and they sat down on a log for a few minutes so she could regain her composure. But just being with him she felt better. Maybe because he hadn't had an easy time either. His wife had died an agonizing death and he had been with her every moment. But she had made her peace with it finally, and he had been willing to let her go. The doctor said he had to do it, to set her free spiritually so she could die in peace. And she had died in his arms on Christmas morning.

“I'm sorry I'm such a mess. He did something to me… he just reached out and touched my heart. I don't know why that happened.”

“Some things just happen,” he said gently, as he wondered how her son had died, but he didn't want to ask her. And she could sense what he was thinking.

“My son committed suicide,” she said as though he had asked her a question, but he hadn't. And she had never said it before to anyone except Zoe. She had never had to. And no one had ever asked her. “He was at Princeton.” She told him about it then, and what it had been like, the shock, the agony of it, the funeral, her husband's reaction, all of it. It was a terrible story.

“What a nightmarish experience for all of you. It's a wonder any of you survived it,” he said with admiration.

“We didn't. My husband's a zombie, our marriage died a year ago. And I think my daughter would be just as happy if she never had to come home again, and I'm not sure I blame her. I just want to get out of there now, to put it behind me.”

“Are you sure?” he asked cautiously, wondering now that he had heard the story. They were all in shock. But what if they came out of it? She and her husband had a long history together.

“I think I'm sure,” she said honestly. “I wanted the summer to think about it,” and then she smiled, “I never expected anything like this to happen.” And she still didn't know what had, or if anything would come of it. Maybe she'd never see him again after two weeks at the ranch. That was a possibility too. She wasn't leaving Bill for him. She was doing it because she had to. “I just need to walk carefully here. I want to do the right thing, for all of us, and I think I know what that is now.”

Hartley nodded, and said nothing, he just held her, and a little while later, he walked her back to her cabin. Zoe and Tanya were having a cup of coffee, and Hartley joined them while Mary Stuart went to take a quick shower. They had just heard the lunch bell. And eventually the two women decided to go up to the dining room and get their table. They left Hartley to wait for Mary Stuart. But they were all somewhat sobered by the morning. And Mary Stuart was surprised when she came out of her bedroom, to find that her two friends had gone, and Hartley was still waiting. She thanked him for waiting for her, and he looked at her gently, and she was suddenly worried about him. He had been through a lot too, and he was being very generous with her. She had no right to hurt him by what she was doing.

“I don't want to do anything that will hurt you,” she said as she walked slowly toward him. She'd been thinking about it all morning. She was so attracted to him, but she didn't want to be selfish. She hadn't completely resolved the issue of Bill in her head yet, although she thought she was fairly sure of what she wanted to do now. But she still needed a little time before she told him. “You've been so good to me, and I barely know you. You've been kinder than anyone in my life, Hartley, except Tanya.”